Alan Hardaker

In 2011, Hardaker was portrayed by actor Neil Dudgeon in United, a BBC TV drama centred on the 1958 Munich air disaster involving Manchester United.

The Alan Hardaker Trophy was commissioned in 1990 as the award to be presented to the "man of the match" at each Football League Cup Final since that time. Hardaker's great-grandson, Tom Coyle, presented the trophy at the 2004 Final between Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough.

When Hardaker first joined the staff of the League, they numbered six as full-time employees. As a measure of the expansion and diversification achieved during his time as secretary, by 1977 this had increased to 25. He enjoyed the complete confidence of the Management Committee, and was delegated by them many powers to act independently concerning certain matters. In his autobiography, he claims that, due to this measure of autonomy, he was perceived as "arrogant and high-handed" and had "frequently been called a dictator" by some club officials. He maintained, though, that his one aim in football had always been to "see the League prosper".

In 1977, Hardaker published his autobiography, Hardaker of the League, which he co-wrote with former BBC Radio football correspondent Bryon Butler and in 1979 he was made director general of the Football League, continuing to serve there until his sudden death from a heart attack in 1980.

In 1976, there was friction over the handling of the player registration of ex-Manchester United and Northern Ireland international George Best, following his transfer from Los Angeles Aztecs of the United States to Fulham. It was discovered that, due to the terms of the contract and the method of registration, Aztecs might actually retain first call on the player. Hardaker acted to counter this situation "to protect the interests of all the Football League clubs".

The threat of withdrawal of League clubs from the FA Cup in 1973, following an argument over the fee for televising the 1972 European Championship (qualifying) quarter-final first leg between England and West Germany, was eventually averted.

At the start of the 1971–72 season, the League Management Committee issued a directive reminding referees of their obligations regarding maintaining discipline on the field of play. Unfortunately, the Committee neglected to circulate the information to the Press or the League clubs, and there was widespread confusion when referees vastly increased the number of cautions and dismissals during matches.

On 12 June 1971 he was made a civil Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of his services to the League.

In 1970, when a group of Midlands club chairmen proposed that the Football League handle its own disciplinary affairs, Hardaker was asked by them if this would be possible under FA regulations. He pointed out Association Rule 1(b), which gave provision for the game to be administered for amateur and professional clubs separately. This meant that the League could have full control of its own administration, but would stop short of a breakaway from the FA. Although the Rule was never implemented, when the League Management Committee brought the matter up with the FA, they were able to negotiate many concessions, both financial and in terms of the disciplinary system, which changed as a result.

Many other incidents of note came under his influence during his time as Football League secretary. In 1969, he was asked to comment on the planned introduction of pensions for those professional players over 35 years of age - he claimed that the reported comment "I wouldn't hang a dog on the evidence of people like that" was actually in answer to the proposal that former professional footballers should sit on disciplinary committees, and not about pensions.

Hardaker was asked to give advice to the League clubs when they were ordered by the FA in 1965 to sign statutory declarations regarding payments to amateur players - in other words, to guarantee that no illegal dealings were being entered into, and thus leaving themselves legally vulnerable. His advice consisted of a recommendation that they (the League clubs) resign from the Football Association "as a matter of extreme urgency", in order to force the FA to back down on the issue. Having held a meeting in Manchester, they duly handed in their resignations, all except for a few unnamed clubs.

When an application to the High Court was made in June 1963, submitted by the out-of-contract Newcastle United player George Eastham, Hardaker was called to give evidence. Despite him arguing in favour of the contract structure as it then was (the League Management Committee had instructed him in how he should proceed), the case was lost, and thereafter the players could move more easily from club to club.

Hardaker was also required to attend the House of Commons in London to address members of Parliament regarding the ending of the maximum wage for football players, which Jimmy Hill, the ex-Fulham player and then chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, had led a campaign for. The PFA won their members' pay freedom in 1961. However, this did not affect the transfer system, which still allowed clubs to retain players, even when their contracts had expired.

However, the signing of TV contracts for the 1961–62 competition, and the money this would generate, helped persuade many of the abstainers to take part the following year, although various clubs still declined to enter each year. The award by UEFA of a European cup competition place for the winner of the League Cup each year, plus the attraction of Wembley as a final venue, were also strong incentives for all the clubs to join, and this was achieved by 1967.

During the 1960s and '70s Hardaker had a bitter relationship with Leeds United manager Don Revie, during the club's ten-year pursuit of domestic and European honours. Revie and his team frequently ran foul of Hardaker's demanding fixture schedules and autocratic rule as secretary of the Football League. The acrimony between Revie and Hardaker continued when Revie took up the post as England national manager; Revie often protested bitterly to Hardaker against the Football League's rigid fixture schedules which he claimed were outdated compared to other countries and negated any effort to establish a successful national team.

On New Year's Eve in 1956, Howarth deposited his work keys on Alan Hardaker's desk and left the building for the last time, after 23 years service. On 6 January 1957 Hardaker was appointed by the Management Committee as the new Football League secretary.

Hardaker was instrumental in designing the 1957 "Pattern of Football", which would have seen the existing 92 clubs, then occupying the four divisions of the League, increased to 100, with 20 teams in each of five divisions. The purpose of this was to reduce the number of weeks in the football season, allowing for less fixture congestion. At the same time, there would be more opportunity to accommodate extra competitions, such as the Football League Cup, which had been introduced during the 1960–61 season. The proposal was defeated after a vote by the member clubs, and the Pattern was discarded.

Following the passing of the Copyright Act 1956, he suggested to the Management Committee that the lists of League fixtures published each year should be subject to copyright for use by companies such as football pools promoters. He was duly given the go-ahead to implement a test case against Littlewoods Pools in 1959, and this the League won, meaning that a source of income would be secured for the clubs, as the Pools companies now needed to pay for the privilege of printing the fixtures on their coupons.

Eventually, on 5 July 1955, a little more than four years after he had been taken on, he was confirmed as assistant secretary to Fred Howarth. Hardaker had used the intervening time to read every archived document since 1888 which related to the League and its business, and was better prepared to take on the top job.

Television companies made several attempts to secure contracts with the Football League to show football matches live, in 1955, 1956 and 1967, but this would never happen in Alan Hardaker's lifetime, and he offered the opinion in his book that "regular live football would undermine the game's health". Before the start of the 1974–75 season, there was even the possibility that no League football highlights would appear on television, due to the League chairmen initially rejecting a three-year deal in 1973, worth £750,000. After protracted negotiation, they finally accepted the offer.

Hardaker was known for his xenophobia and insular thinking. It was his decision to boycott Chelsea's attempt to enter the first ever European Cup competition in 1955 when Secretary of the Football League. His understanding of dealing with football in Europe amounted to "Too many wops and dagoes", which he conveyed to a Times journalist.

In 1951, the then Portsmouth manager, Bob Jackson, got in touch with Hardaker to say that Fred Howarth, the Football League secretary, was considering retiring from the job, and recommended that he apply. Vernon Stokes, the chairman of Portsmouth F.C. at that time, also urged him to put in for it. Stokes later became chairman of the Football Association Disciplinary Committee.

On 1 May 1951, he accepted the invitation to replace Howarth, although this was not to formally happen for another five and a half years, due to the seeming reluctance of the outgoing secretary to actually retire. Hardaker took up a junior position during this period, at a much reduced salary and receiving only a small pay rise each year thereafter. He later indicated in his autobiography that he felt "badly let down by Arthur Drewry", the League President at that time.

For a short while after returning to Great Britain, Hardaker fulfilled the temporary position of clerk to the Education Committee back at the Guildhall, due to his previous job being already occupied. When he was refused permission to resume his post as Lord Mayor's secretary in Hull, he applied for an identical appointment in Portsmouth, and was successful at interview. He and his young family moved there in August 1946. In 1950, he was removed from the active list of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve at his own request.

In 1942, after subsequently serving on HMS Cumberland, he became a lieutenant commander, and transferred, this time to the de-commissioned torpedo training ship HMS Marlborough secured at Eastbourne. He then received a posting to Australia as supply officer to HMS Alert, a shore-based camp in Sydney, and in December 1944 moved on to HMS Golden Hind, a Royal Navy manning depot, also in Sydney.

Both his sporting career and his professional life were interrupted by the imminent outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, and in his official capacity as Lord Mayor's secretary he was asked to help start the Humber Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in readiness for hostilities. He joined them on 12 June 1939, as a payroll lieutenant initially assigned to the light cruiser HMS Calcutta moored in Hull docks. However, after the war began, he was transferred to HMS Newcastle, based at Scapa Flow, and saw service on the "Northern Patrol", which protected convoys of Allied ships from German vessels sent to attack.

He was offered professional terms in 1936 by manager Jack Hill, which he turned down, as by the age of 23 he had progressed to become Lord Mayor's secretary at the Guildhall. After then playing 11 games for the Reserves in the Midland League, and coinciding with a change in team management, he was released by the club. He went on to play for Bridlington Central United (later known as Bridlington Town) of the East Riding Amateur League, and then moved to the Yorkshire Amateur Football Club in the Yorkshire League.

In 1935, he captained the East Riding County FA representative team when they won the Northern Counties Amateur Championship.

Alan Hardaker's education began at Constable Street Elementary School in Hull, and from there he was awarded a scholarship to Riley High School, leaving in 1928 with qualifications in typing and shorthand. He initially went into the family removals and haulage business, until 1929, when he was sacked by his own father for playing dominoes instead of working. He was able to use his qualifications to find immediate employment as an office junior in the Town Clerk's department at the Guildhall, Kingston upon Hull.

Alan Hardaker OBE (29 July 1912 − 4 March 1980) was an English football administrator for the Football League, a wartime Royal Navy officer, and previously an amateur footballer. He was born in Hull, Yorkshire, second son to John and Emma, and younger brother of Ernest.